A prompt was released by @mypathtofire where he asks is to write a post about 'Art and Creativity,' Here Is A Link To The Post If You Want To Join In.
In the post, there are multiple questions that are intended to give us some inspiration, so I thought I would try to answer each one and structure this post in the order that the questions are asked.
Art and Creativity
I think the main reason I stuck around on Hive, is due to all the great communities and people who are interested in a plethora of different artistic endeavors, and it has given me a chance to hone my writing skills while being a part of this Blockchain.
I have decided to post this in The World Building Community, because of the prompts here which have helped me in expanding the stories I have been writing, and by extension to worlds they are all based in.
What art or creativity have you done?
Well, since I have been here on Hive, I have written a novel based on a world I've been creating for a couple of years now.
At the moment, I am editing the novel, in the hopes of self-publishing it and making it my first-ever published piece of work. It's only a short one, about 56k words, although, I am adding to it in places during the editing process, so it may be longer by the time I'm done.
After completing that, I decided against jumping into another extended publication until it is complete and out there, so opted to write one-off short stories based in the same world, which has been a really enjoyable experience.
Why did you decide to create it?
The first story I wrote was about a captain of a ship, who has to wait for his crew to make some repairs in a dangerous part of space. They are attacked, but make it away in the nick of time, now in an even worse patch of space and in a severely damaged spaceship.
That was how it started, but, I couldn't stop asking questions about it. Why is it dangerous? Who are these people? Who are they affiliated with? What's the recent history of this universe? Who are the aliens and humans? What worlds are out there?
Because of these questions, the world expanded, the story got bigger, and now I'm here with a bunch more written than I thought I'd ever have, and a clear path to get to where I want to be, but the road seems to be filled with debris. Although, in saying that, I have recently gotten some assistance from a friend I met here on Hive, who offered to come on as an Editor to help get it out there.
What do you like about it?
I love Science Fiction, I like aliens, other worlds, universe-spanning adventures, spaceships, battles, dark storytelling, cyberpunk aesthetics, and gritty underworld kind of stuff and this project gives me a chance to explore all of that in one place.
Also, I like the fact that everything I write for it can inspire me to write even more, and every story that is told helps to expand it.
I call the series Off-World, and pretty much everything I write is set in this universe.
How did you produce it?
The first thing I wrote was done as a tv show script, which I wrote 10 episodes for using Celtx, which I had been using since college. But, then I decided that nobody would buy this show, so I had to re-write the entire thing as a novel in google docs, it was my first time writing in that format and I haven't looked at it in ages, but I know it's most likely a mess.
While here, I've gotten better, and more confident in a way, so all the newer stories I've written are done to a much higher standard I think.
What attracts you to this art or creativity?
The biggest attraction for me is a chance to really let my mind wander and write just about anything I can imagine.
Other than just writing, I also make models out of clay for some of the aliens that show up in the stories, and it gives me a good chance to be creative in a different way.
What projects have you done or will you do?
I have actually been writing for a bunch of projects since joining Hive, namely the feature film based on how Hive was created. That has been an eye-opening experience and a lot of fun.
Also, I write lore and stories for Psyber X, which is great writing as part of a team.
Short Films and scripts are something I wrote a lot of, and still do as I enjoy creating short films.
But, the series I'm creating is a lot of fun and really lets me create without boundaries. I have some pretty big ideas for it in the future, but the first thing I need to do is get the novels published.
How do you like to spend time on your art or creativity?
One way I like to get some inspiration to write is through music. I'm a pretty visual thinker, so I like to put on a pair of headphones and daydream.
Usually, after about 10-15 minutes, I have the basis of a story, if not an entire outline worked out that I can get working on.
Once I start writing though, I turn off the music and lock myself away from everyone. I can get easily distracted and need to get myself in the zone because when I'm there, I can write about 1,500 - 2,000 words in about an hour, depending on how inspired I am.
But, with distractions, I lose my rhythm and train of thought and end up taking a lot longer to write half that amount.
This was a really fun write-up and almost felt like an interview.
I think I'd like to tag a few people who might be interested in something like this, and I'd be interested in reading their submissions if they joined in.